The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has updated the rules for providing educational services through the State Employment Service, including the procedure for obtaining training vouchers, according to the State Employment Service.
Employer recommendation letter now mandatory for voucher issuance
To receive a voucher (a document for payment of training issued by the employment service), a recommendation letter from an employer or prospective employer is now mandatory. The letter must confirm the need for training and set out commitments to employ the person in a specific vacancy or to upgrade the qualifications or retrain an existing employee.
The list of documents proving education has also been updated: electronic documents from ‘Diia’ and documents on the results of non-formal learning issued by qualification centres are now accepted. You may choose an educational institution for training with a voucher only from the Unified State Electronic Database on Education (ЄДЕБО).
Vouchers unavailable to those trained at the Fund in the last three years
Restrictions have been introduced: vouchers will not be available to people who have trained at the expense of the Fund of Compulsory State Social Insurance of Ukraine for Unemployment in the last three years. Exceptions are provided for people who, for health reasons, cannot work in their previously acquired profession if they have an appropriate medical institution conclusion, and for internally displaced persons who obtained that status after 24 February 2022 and have not undergone retraining at the Fund’s expense since then.
For the entire period of vocational training arranged by the employment service, unemployment benefits will be retained for certain categories of registered unemployed. For participants in the pilot project on vocational training for women in the professions of women drivers of trolleybuses, trams and motor vehicles, conditions for employment after completion of training have been established.
Participants must find employment within 45 calendar days after completing training
The time limits specified in the rules:
- participants must find employment within 45 calendar days after completing training;
- the employer who commissioned the training must provide employment within 60 calendar days;
- the restriction on repeat training at the Fund’s expense applies to the last three years;
- the exception for internally displaced persons applies to those who obtained status after 24 February 2022.
The document does not specify whether a voucher can be issued online. According to the State Employment Service, the official changes are intended to better align vocational training with employers’ needs and improve subsequent employment prospects.
